


Table for Three

by tempuriio



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Cooking, Cooking prompt, Dealing with PTSD, Domesticity, F/M, Future Mai - Freeform, Future Trunks Brief Cooking, Future trunks - Freeform, PTSD Trunks Briefs, Post Zamasu, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Potential ED, Ptsd Trunks Brief, Refeeding Syndrome, ToraMai, TraMai, TruMai - Freeform, TruMai Cooking, TruMai Domesticity, Trunks Briefs Cooking, TrunksxMai, future Bulma - Freeform, future timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25950037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tempuriio/pseuds/tempuriio
Summary: After settling in the new timeline, dealing with PTSD for Trunks takes the form of cooking for those he loves.
Relationships: Future Trunks Briefs/Future Mai
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Table for Three

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rye Cereal (Over at Twitter)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Rye+Cereal+%28Over+at+Twitter%29).
  * Inspired by [Day 5 Prompt: Cooking](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/668506) by RyeCereal. 



“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Trunks asked with a tint of concern as he bent his head forward carefully, letting his partner slip the apron over his head. Following her movements, he turned his back to her,

“Oh please, she’ll be proud to see how far you’ve come with your skills.” Mai said softly as she tied the ends of the apron behind Trunks’ back in a neat, simple knot.  
They were hosting lunch, and Bulma was coming over to eat with them; Trunks was rather nervous, as while Mai seemed to like the food he cooked, he hadn’t ever cooked on his own before. He was usually guided by his mother when he cooked for people other than him and his girlfriend. 

“Have you seen Tama though? I wouldn’t want her coming in and disrupting you while you’re preparing the food” Mai said once she finished with the apron. Trunks turned around to face her again. 

“Not at all, but I’m guessing she’d been over resting by the lab” Trunks said unattentively, still pondering on his previous thoughts.

“I’ll go look for her” she said, gently cupping his cheek with her hand as she inched closer “There is no reason to worry Trunks, trust me” she added, fully catching his attention; he placed his hands on her hips and with their eyes locked, he listened to her. He gave her a gentle smile before leaning in; their lips meeting in a reassuring gesture.

“You are right-“ Trunks said once they pulled apart, “I still hope it turns out well though” he followed with a sheepish grin on his face.  
Mai giggled and shook her head lightly “You’ll be fine, silly” she said and, after giving him a quick peck on the cheek, she went on her way to look for their cat. A red lipstick mark now sitting on his cheek.

After Black, adjusting to the new timeline wasn’t easy by any means; finding themselves in the face of people that they thought knew, and that supposedly knew them as well, but still managing to feel alienated from.

Thankfully that feeling didn’t last long, as Bulma was the woman he remembered so vividly, a bright, intrepid believer. She took them in without issue, as if there was no distinction between him and the Trunks from this timeline, as if him and Mai had always been there. Though it took the Trunks and Mai of this timeline a little while to grasp what this meant, what it entailed. Which made it a tad uncomfortable to interact with, until they opened up more about what happened in the timeline destroyed by Zeno-sama. 

Despite everything, the most remarkable struggle that stuck out to him, did not even pertain to him. It stuck out to him because it was about Mai. The strongest woman he’s ever know, the one who’s watched him cry and lose hope time and time again, being the only one able to lift his morale and send him out to try again. The only person that has always been there to pick him up whenever he falls. 

When they travel back in time to more peaceful times, the thing that sticks out to them most is the abundance of food; but being used to eating smidgen thanks to their apocalyptic timeline, as Chibi Trunks likes to call it, for a while they can go without being bothered about relinquishing in gastronomic goods. 

Of course that ‘while’ is not really much time, especially when you have to sit among the people eating said goods.   
That wasn’t an issue for Trunks though, being half saiyan meant his body could adjust without issue to starvation along with handling variant patterns of food consumption. Mai on the other hand, had to refrain from eating like the rest, for quite some time.

Bulma set onto her a strict diet. Not much, and never the same to what everyone else ate. Still, days passed by and with increasing apetite, the small black-haired woman began craving what everyone else ate. He remembered she’d shared with him how she wished to taste the food they all ate, how wonderful it smelled, and how she thought it probably tasted; he remembered hearing it in her voice, the sadness of missing out on something that had been taken from them for so long, while having it right in front of her. 

He promised her he would learn to cook for her, he would learn how to cook those extravagant meals they served at the Brief’s house so he could cook them to her when she was able to eat normally again. So she wouldn’t have to miss out. So maybe she could look at this process under a better light. Now she had something to forward to.

She’d been held by Bulma from eating anything that did not come from her, strictly, as the blue head of the family instructed everyone not to let Mai in on any food she wasn’t appointed to eat.

Saying she had to monitor Mai’s food intake,

“When the human body goes through periods of starvation, it begins to consume itself- it changes the way it works just so you can keep on functioning with meager amounts of food- so if you start eating all you can see now, you will confuse your body and it will try to adapt again to all possibilities, thinking maybe you got a chance to eat but will keep starving from then on, or that you are back to eating normally. But this unpredictability will skew your body so bad you can die- you will die”

Trunks remembers Bulma explaining it to Mai, he was there too.  
He didn’t like it, he hated the look on her face when they sat down to eat and how what sat on her plate was entirely different to what sat in his. It didn’t feel fair at all, it made him feel guilty of enjoying food when she couldn’t. 

Later he understood their bodies, no matter how similar they seemed, did not function the same; and there was nothing he could do about it but try to help her through this. It was really no one’s fault, and if anything, he had to thank his mother for being so diligent in making sure Mai didn’t fall ill to this. It was reassuring to know someone was there watching their backs. 

So he put it out to his mother, that he wanted to learn how to cook, for Mai, and he was met with a smile; she would go on to teach him all she knew, like she’d always done. 

“She was resting outside among the tulips in the garden” Mai announced as she walked into the kitchen, holding the small black cat between her hands. Mint lacquered nails stood out over the feline’s fur while being held.

“Oh you’re done already” She pointed out, leaning against the counter by the kitchen window.

“Yeah, time goes by faster when you’re caught up on your thoughts, doesn’t it?” Trunks said, putting on plain oven mitts before he opened the oven and took the metal tray out that held two large pieces of beef shank, accompanied with thin bay leaves for flavor. The smell began filling the air. 

“Wow it smells nice”

“-smells nice”

They both said at the same time, and they laughed until they heard the doorbell ring.

“That must be her”

**Author's Note:**

> Hii,  
> This little TruMai ficlet is one of four I wrote based on my lovely friend Rye's illustrations for TruMai Week 2020 hosted over at Twitter and Tumblr. This one is for Day 5's prompt "Cooking". Don't forget to go check her out!!  
> My writing is not very good but I really hope you enjoy it anyway! If you have any suggestions feel free to drop them in a comment, I love to hear what you have to say and if there's anything I can improve on! <3
> 
> (Quick p.d: I just realized while posting that I made these long ago, but this touches on what is known as Refeeding Syndrome in regards to Mai. This tends to happen havily after wars, but if you wish to read more, here's a handy link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440847/#:~:text=Refeeding%20syndrome%20can%20be%20defined,may%20cause%20serious%20clinical%20complications. )
> 
> -Love, Tem/Mabel


End file.
